Forever Prom Goes Viral

In August of last year, I wrote about the photo shoot I did with my comedic partner in crime, Nora Fay Algeo, in Forever Prom.

We thought what we did was funny so I created a tumblr for the photos and sent it to a few publishers for book deals which all came back with rejections. Disheartened, the photos stayed on my computer for six months getting staler by the day. Then two weeks ago, the Susan G. Komen Foundation debacle happened and I decided to post the Forever Prom Planned Parenthood photo on my Facebook page in support of the organization.

When my wall went nuts with shares and likes, support from right-to-choose women and violent rants from pro-lifers I decided, “what the heck – why not upload the rest of them?” It wasn’t until Tuesday though when I started getting texts, calls, and messages telling me that I was all over reddit. My response, “What is reddit, and why should I care?”

“Dude, it’s a big deal – you’re front page!” one text said.

My friend Ryan called me “an internet God.”

The web designer, who designed my website sent me an email saying,

“Reddit is like Burning Man:

For those who’ve been, no explanation is necessary,
For those who haven’t, no explanation is possible.

But front page is pretty dang sweet.”

How had I worked in social media and NOT have known what reddit was, or thought to have submitted my photos before? D’oh! Suddenly the Forever Prom photos which were stagnating on my hard drive for six months raced from 100,000 views to 2.6 million views by the end of the day and became #1, front page reddit. #ohmyfreakinggod

I owe a HUGE thanks to former ghost tour guide, Jon Schifferdecker, for leaking the photos to reddit and making them become a sensation. You can catch Jon and me performing together in the Paranormal Investigation Series. After making it on front page of reddit, The Chobble picked up the photos, we got hundreds of tweets sent out, I got recognized in a coffee shop, and Nora and I will be making a radio appearance next week to talk about the experience.